Does anyone know any of the technical specifications for Iris, the system sold by Lowe’s? It’s my understanding that the devices use either Zigbee or Z-Wave, but it seems impossible to tell from the individual product specifications.
The Iris system actually isn’t that expensive, but of course they make their money on the monthly fee (which I would like to avoid, and SmartThings would allow me to). And they have devices like:
an <a href="http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=388558-41166-DWS901&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3735305&catalogId=10051"><strong><strong>indoor/outdoor</strong> </strong>open/closed sensor</a> for $20
a <a href="http://www.lowes.com/pd_388563-41166-BTN900_0__?productId=3735313">button</a> for $20
an <a href="http://www.lowes.com/pd_388564-41166-SPG902_0__?productId=3735315">outlet</a> for $30
as well as others that closely mirror those available as Things, though some cheaper (like the smart fob, i.e. presence sensor, for $20).
So obviously the big question is: would these be compatible? If so, they would really open a whole world of SmartThings-compatible sensors, at a major national retailer no less (sorry to be America-centric, non-Americans).
I agree! I pulled the old wired doorbell out of my house when we did renovations, but I’ve been holding off on replacing it so that I can just get a SmartThings doorbell. My wife may or may not be getting annoyed at me about that.
I had to be at Lowe’s today for other stuff, so I found the Iris section. It looks like they sell some stuff specifically branded for Iris, like the things I linked above. They also sell GE outlets and switches like the ones the SmartThings team has said are compatible. The boxes for those say they will both work with Iris and with other Z-Wave devices, so it seems that they’re standard Z-Wave devices. I’ll have to compare the prices to those on amazon, but I think they might have been a little lower.
Here’s hoping the Iris-branded stuff is compatible, too. I guess once I have my hub, I could always just buy a $20 button and see…
I was at a Lowes last night on an unrelated run and saw the Iris system - my first exposure to it. It’s a little odd to see how similar the offerings are - I’d call Iris strictly inferior from a software POV but I do like the extra buttons and keypad options. Poking around it looks like Iris doesn’t really have robust support for other Z-Wave devices (no scene or zone support) and only supports its own proprietary control protocol for ZigBee - there’s also no mention of an API anywhere. It’s based off the AlertMe (UK company) platform and so there’s a bit more of a focus on security. On the flip side, the Iris units all have cellular built in (with $5 or $10 per month to activate it) as well as WiFi (not a selling point for me.) Of course, there’s no central monitoring as with a true home security system so I’m not sure how useful that cellular support would really be - the cellular plans include 5MB / 25MB of data, respectively - I suppose for doing power consumption monitoring at a remote site? I digress.
Looking at the device packaging in the store almost none of their Iris control offerings are Z-Wave - just the thermostat and, of course, the GE products they show alongside. The camera is 802.11b/g/n. The range extender may or may not be - the site claims both but the product was out of stock.
The various devices will all attempt to promiscuously pair with any suitable ZigBee mesh but I haven’t seen anyone post a teardown or sniffer logs of a working transaction - I’ve got a ZigBee sniffer coming in next month so I will simply buy one of the kits and post sniff logs - if it’s encrypted, we’re likely a bit out of luck but I imagine it’s just extremely simple (or, in the case of the keyfob or buttons, it should be possible to just trigger on any action that isn’t an attempt to associate since that’s almost certainly a button push?)
Finally got my ZigBee sniffer! I’m going to buy and test a pair of devices this week and see what happens.
I’m probably going to get the fob and the button. The outlet and motion sensor are interesting but I’m guessing that figuring out the pairing process will be more than I can handle - unless I buy an Iris system and observe setup and control.
We have been using the same Z-Wave outlets as Iris, but their ZigBee stuff is not currently supported as it is not ZigBee HA compliant. They seem to be using a proprietary ZigBee stack. What’s in gear for the future? good stuff! We had a great conversation with them at CES! Alexander, you should post your findings you get from your sniffer. I’d love to see what comes out of it!
Err, when I say “outlet” I specifically mean their pass-through plug module. Sad to hear confirmation that it’s a proprietary stack, glad to hear talks are under way!
FWIW, re: smartthings doorbell, have you tried a SmartSense Multi as doorbell press detector?:
I found I can stick a SmartSense Multi (without the paired open/close magnet) into my doorbell chime and configured a tool to TXT me if the doorbell has been pressed.
It doesn’t seem completely reliable at detecting doorbell chime vibrations, but I think these things helped:
(1) use a real doorbell chime with tone bars rather than some electronically-produced chime sound (but a good loud old one with metal base rather than new plastic might transmit vibration even better),
(2) I used a new chime (louder sound than from the old one that had paint on the bars),
(3) use a fresh Smartthings 2-sided stickytape for strong bond to the chime base (I picked a spot between the tone bars) rather than regular two-sided stickytape with thicker vibration-absorbing material.
So far it seems to be working well every time I’ve tested it.
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
14
With a few hints from the SmartThings team, I would be that a direct hack of a couple solder points on the SmartSense Multi (with appropriate pull-down resistance), would allow us to convert the sensor directly into a button.
I’m guessing the magnet sensor is analog, not digital, so it is easy to generate an analog voltage to the I/O pin.
Maybe a bit expensive as a push button, but … solves the problem.
The magnetic sensor is just a hall effect sensor. I’ve wired a button up from a multi using the batteries for voltage and ground. Wire ground/voltage to the button and a wire from the button to one end of the hall effect sensor.
Pushing the button sends the voltage to the sensor and it thinks its HIGH / closed. I can find some pictures of a Staples Easy button I wired up a few months ago if you guys would like.
1 Like
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
16
So I guessed right!
Please do post the wiring pictures (and a copy to the “Smart Button” thread too… As you notice, this is a popular, if redundant, topic…)!
Absolutely post the pics of the Easy button. I can think of endless uses
I did the power to the Hall effect sensor thing and it works as advertised. Then I ran over it with my truck. Oopsie. I really should build another one over the weekend - my wife is getting annoying about not having a doorbell. I think I’ll set it up to the siren and push the button at 3am while she’s sound asleep. I might even shoot a video and post it. <snicker/evil>.
